With one of his latest masterpieces, Wreck, Brooklyn-based sculptor/artist Jordan Griska beautifully juxtaposes opulence and misfortune in a truly provocative way. Painstakingly crafted from over 12,000 individual pieces of mirror-finish stainless steel over the course of almost two years, Griska’s Wreck tells the story of a (life-size) Mercedes-Benz S550 involved in a fatality wreck. We are absolutely in awe of this piece, and Griska multi-disciplinary approach, from 3D modeling technology, engineering proficiency, precision laser cutting and good old fashioned hand assembly. Not only is this fascinating sculpture beautiful, but it also evokes very relevant and stimulating sociopolitical concepts surrounding wealth and debauchery. Griska says it best: “The perfect geometry and flawless materiality of the piece reflect the inspiration of idealized digital design, in stark contrast with the grimness of the reality it represents. Beauty, technology and engineering collide with death and reality.”

Welp, UK designer/illustrator/artist Christopher LaBrooy has done it again. His mad CGI skills continue to amaze us. LaBrooy is a master manipulator, creating surreal digital compositions that defy logic and reason (previous posts here and here). Aptly titled simply 911, and set in what appears to be picturesque Palm Springs, LaBrooy pays homage to the iconic 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS in this incredible series. What we love most about LaBrooy’s work is that he elevates his adeptness in Maxon Cinema 4D beyond gratuitous rendering for the sake of rendering, to thoughtful and awe-inspiring artwork. Gearheads may shudder at the sight of a dozen otherwise pristine Porches partially submerged in a pool, but that’s precisely what LaBrooy seems to strive for: an emotional response to his digital work. As far as we’re concerned, mission accomplished (again).

We’ve seen art created from a wide variety of media, but nothing quite like this. As a matter of fact, if you had to guess how these were created just by looking at them, you’d probably have a hard time figuring it out. Relying on little more than brown packing tape, an Xacto and the filtering of light behind a translucent surface, Amsterdam-based artist Max Zorn’s work is awe-inspiring. The nuance in shading he achieves by layering tape is astounding all on its own. Never mind Zorn’s ability to manipulate the tape so intricately. It’s interesting how these works, composed of such an unexpected and artless material, are so beautiful. Zorn clearly has a penchant for the past, as indicated by his choice of subjects for the majority of his work. Interestingly, Zorn’s fondness for packing tape began as street art, as he describes in his own words: “There’s a lot of great street art by day, but it disappears after dark. I wanted to come up with urban art that uses nighttime as a setting, and there was nothing more inviting than the street lamps in Amsterdam. In the beginning I used packing tape to fill in larger sections of my marker drawings. Once I hung them on street lamps, the light’s effect opened up new ideas with ditching markers and just using tape.”

Few automotive designs are as iconic as the Volkswagen Beetle. Dubbed the “people’s car”, Volkswagen has gone on to produce some 22 million units, making the Beetle the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform in history. Indonesian sculptor Ichwan Noor capitalizes on the Beetle’s recognizability with his striking Beetle Sphere and Beetle Box sculptures. Noor’s body of work is comprised of a good deal of pieces that focus on man-made transportation, so it’s really no surprise that he chose to morph the unmistakable VW for these particular works. Though these sculptures are not simply warped car bodies, Noor certainly creates that illusion. Instead, he relies on authentic and fabricated parts… crafting cast metal components, and thoughtfully displaying some of the car’s most recognizable features. Quite a feat, considering these are not computer generated (like these), but physical objects. Wow. The result is really something to behold.

Milan-based designer/illustrator/author Gerald Bear seems to have a bunch of questions in that tremendously creative brain of his. And he answers many visually in his ongoing series Unconventional Heroes. What if all Doc Brown could afford was a Fiat (instead of a DeLorean)? What if Michael Knight did his life’s work from a talking VW Beetle? What if the Mystery Van was a Ford Thames van? Unconventional is a great adjective to describe these fantastic illustrations by Bear. He taps into not only a love of automobiles/transportation, but also a fascination with pop culture, and of course, the art of illustration. Bear marries these altogether in a pleasantly unexpected series that keeps us wanting more. Keep ‘em coming!

Though sort of a novelty, since most folks who visit this microsite won’t actually travel around Scandinavia, Volvo’s Cross Country Travels site and mobile app are really well designed and fun to navigate. Interactive Art Director Robert Lindström documents the creative process here. Love the badges too… nice uniformity among the variety of illustrations.